We’re not to blame; we wrote to IGP, AG about Obengfo – Medical Council

The Ghana Medical and Dental Council has said it is not to blame for the purported medical malpractice that may have caused multiple deaths at the Obengfo Hospital at Weija.

The Council has seemingly laid the blame at the feet of law enforcement authorities.

The Registrar of the Council, Dr Eli Kwesi Atikpui, told Citi News the council is set to publish a report on their handling of activities of the centre.

This report is likely to contain correspondence with, among others, the current Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General’s office.

“The council is going to come out with a comprehensive report because we have written to the police service. We have written to the Director-General of the CID [Criminal Investigations Department] and the last letter that we wrote a few months back was to the Inspector General of Police himself.”

“We had also copied the Attorney General to whatever letters that we had written. Two years ago, we even made a presentation to the Bureau of National Investigations. The council has done whatever was possible within the confines of the law,” Dr Atikpui insisted.

Deputy NEIP CEO’s death

Dr Obeng-Andoh is being investigated over the purported death of the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Programme (NEIP), Stacy Offei Darko, at his medical facility.

According to the mother of the deceased, Nana Akosua Animah I, her 37-year-old daughter fell ill and sought medical attention at the Obengfo Hospital but died last Monday after her admission.

Dr Obeng-Andoh was arrested with three other accomplices following the incident.

An Accra Magistrate court denied them bail after their lawyers’ appeals on Tuesday.

Dr Obeng-Andoh and his accomplices are to reappear before the court on June 12, 2018.

Previous Medical Council action

In January 2017, the Medical and Dental Council closed down Obengfo Hospital for operating illegally.

The move was to ensure that the hospital until it acquired the necessary license.

That was the second legal action the facility faced after the council revoked Dr Obeng-Andoh’s licence in 2013 for operating illegally.

“The last time he [Dr. Obeng-Andoh] renewed his registration was in 2013, and he was supposed to renew his registration each year after it expired on 21st December 2012. We have made our presentations to the appropriate institutions, and we expect the appropriate actions to the taken,” the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Eli Atikpui, told Citi News at the time.

Complaints and arrest

Dr Obeng-Andoh was, in December 2016, also arrested over the same issue after the Dental and Medical Council said it had received several complaints of medical complications from some persons who had patronised the facility.

According to the council, Dr Obeng-Andoh’s practice was dangerous to the lives of his patients hence the move to stop his operations.

Following threats by the council to lock up his hospital, the doctor went to court seeking an injunction on the council’s action.

But the case was thrown out of court after the judge discovered that Dr Obeng-Andoh’s lawyer was not qualified at the time of the application.